U.S. Open notes: Familiar name near top

Published 5:30 am, Saturday, June 19, 2010

Familiar name near top

The guy who has owned Pebble Beach the last two years shot a 1-under 70 in Friday’s second round after opening with an even-par 71.

“I’m very comfortable off the tee here,” Johnson said. “So I drive it pretty well, and in these greens, they’re really small. But if you’re hitting good quality shots, you can get it close to the hole. And I just feel like I got a good game plan to play this golf course.”

Playing late on the weekend at Pebble is familiar to Johnson. Two of his three PGA Tour wins have come here in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, both in the last two years.

In February, Johnson birdied the final hole to win his second straight title at Pebble.

As most have said this week, the course Johnson finished at 16-under on in February is nothing like the one he has played at 1 under through two rounds.

“In February you get no roll on the greens, everything backs up,” Johnson said. “The course, it’s playing shorter because it’s firmer ... but the way the ball is bouncing, it’s very hard. You really have to hit it to the right side of the flag to have a putt.”

Singh pads streak to 64

Vijay Singh is happy to be playing in the U.S. Open at all.

The USGA granted Singh an exemption into the field, citing his injury trouble as a reason for letting him in — keeping alive Singh’s streak of consecutive majors at 64, the longest current run.

Singh, 47, from Fiji, is a 34-time PGA Tour winner who has played in 16 straight U.S. Opens and 17 overall. His best finish was a tie for third in 1999.

He shot a 1-over 72 during Friday’s second round, leaving him at 4-over 146 for the tournament.

“I think the golf course played a little easier with no wind,” he said of his morning round.

All of his experience doesn’t mean much on these unforgiving greens or when teeing off into winds that regularly change. For Singh, it’s about visualizing what he knows about Pebble Beach.

“You know your lines. You kind of go through the whole golf course and you know the green in your head, what’s the layout of the green,” Singh said. “With the new majors you go to, you’re trying to figure out what do the greens do over here?

“Here, you pretty much know where to hit it. That’s pretty much the local knowledge.”

Watson’s weekend

Tom Watson’s farewell tour got a 36-hole extension.

Fans thought this was the last they would see of the 60-year-old who won the U.S. Open here in 1982, giving him a standing ovation at the start and finish of every hole Friday.

Instead, they’ll do it again today and Sunday. Watson, who opened with 78 on Thursday, came back at even-par 71 to make the 82-player field right at the 7-over cut line.

“It’s a wonderful reception,” said Watson, who made the original field with a USGA exemption. “This very well could be my last U.S. Open. There was quite a bit of applause and, ‘Come on, Tom, do one for the baby boomers, you can do it for the old guys.’ It was a pretty special time.”

Low amateur cards 69

Langley struggled through his first nine holes Friday and was sitting at 6 over when he suddenly got rolling. Langley made birdies at Nos. 10, 11, 13, 14 and 17. His only blemish on the back nine was a bogey at the 15th.